Match fixing

twenty8

There has been a lot of comment in one of today's papers about match fixing and how one county team have let people other than their main free taker take the frees so that a high odds player would be the top scorer. This is supposed to have taken place in league games.:eek:

Anyone have any ideas who this team is supposed to be??

Lemlin

twenty8 wrote:

There has been a lot of comment in one of today's papers about match fixing and how one county team have let people other than their main free taker take the frees so that a high odds player would be the top scorer. This is supposed to have taken place in league games.:eek:

Anyone have any ideas who this team is supposed to be??

I don't think people are allowed say even if they have an idea due to the law and libel.

mchurl

absolutly shocked if this is true

if it is then the people involved should be banned permantly from the gaa

hawker

I heard nothing about match fixing or whatever one likes to call it. Does anyone know which paper this was in?

I hope it's not true!

cruiserweight

from todays indo

http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stories.php3?ca=13&si=1511240

Irish Independent wrote:

INSIDER TRADING, as opposed to match-fixing or other scams, has become a feature of GAA betting, according to leading bookmaker and former Fine Gael minister, Ivan Yates.

And, while he doesn't believe that betting irregularities are a serious problem in Gaelic games, Yates warns against complacency.

"Every sport has to be vigilant. You never know what new scam is on the way in any sport," he said.

Responding to a newspaper report that some GAA players and teams were manipulating results, especially in National League games, Yates, who owns Celtic Bookmakers, said he had no evidence to support that claim, However, he acknowledged that unreliable early season form sometimes created the impression that a coup had been organised.

"It's most likely to happen in league games in February-March before the season has settled into any pattern," claimed Yates. "It's a sort of insider trading where punters may know more about a particular team than the bookies.

"For instance, a bookie may print the betting coupons on a Tuesday but by the end of the week punters in a particular county know that six of the team have gone down with flu and won't be playing so the odds are wrong. Or they may know that a team is in the middle of very heavy training or just come back from a holiday or whatever.

"It's insider knowledge but it's fair game. It's up to the bookies to make sure their information is as up to date. As the season goes on, you don't get that sort of variation," added Yates.

Sunday's report alleged that the bookmaking industry have become suspicious of betting trends, in particular, where teams were surprisingly beaten in league games or switched free-takers in mid-match so that a player with higher odds could end up as the top scorer.

Yates said that novelty bets tended to attract small money and that bookmakers would be extremely suspicious if a punter tried to place a large stake on anything other than the result.

Similarly, if punters start backing against their own county, they generally have good information. However, it's all legal and knowledge-based.

"Form tends to be unreliable during the League but, once the championship starts, local knowledge isn't as important because all the teams are as fit as each other and it will be known days in advance if players are injured," said Yates.

Despite an increase in the volume of GAA betting, Yates claims it's a difficult market for bookmakers.

"Generally speaking, the pundits get it right a lot more often than they get it wrong during the championship so the punters know which way to go. The truth is that GAA people really know their sport.

"The vast majority of big bets are on the results of matches only because serious punters are not going to be on novelties. Even if they tried, nobody is going to lay them big money on something like the first wide or the first yellow card.

"There was concern in the bookmaking world some years ago when it was felt that draws were priced too high as the view was that the GAA were happy to see games finishing level.

"There was quite a lot of betting on draws at that time but the odds have come down since then. With the more crowded fixture list, the ratio of draws isn't as high as it used to be either," he said.

Early-season form fluctuations sometimes turn up results that leave the GAA public perplexed.

On the opening day of this year's Allianz Football League, Wexford beat Armagh by six points, while Galway put up a great performance when beating Kildare by nine points. A week later Armagh were 5/4 outsiders to lose to Galway in Crossmaglen but won by 1-11 to 0-4. The following week, Galway beat Sligo by 4-16 to 0-7.

It's that type of turbulence that people find difficult to understand.

cruiserweight

Sean Kelly has also had something to say about it

http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stories.php3?ca=13&si=1510785

Irish Independent wrote:

GAA president Sean Kelly has reacted with scepticism to a claim by bookmakers that they had detected betting irregularities in National League and club games.

A report in a Sunday newspaper yesterday claimed that unusual betting patterns had emerged in some games in recent years.

A bookmaking source alleged that there were examples of large bets being placed on teams who then lost League games in surprising circumstances, while there had also been cases of teams switching free-takers during a game in order to ensure that a certain player finished as top scorer.

However, Kelly said that there was absolutely no evidence to support the claim and he challenged the bookmakers to give concrete examples if they had them.

"I simply don't believe it," he said. "You would have to have an awful lot of people involved to fix a match and it defies belief that a whole team would be that corrupt.

"Our games have always had real integrity and I have no doubt that is still the case. I wouldn't give any credence whatsoever to this claim, especially since it so short on detail."

The volume of betting on GAA activity has increased dramatically in recent years and it's now quite common for bookmakers to offer odds on a huge variety of aspects pertaining to a game, including first scorer, top scorer, winning margins etc.

Unlike several other sports where participants are prevented from betting on events in which they are involved, there is no restrictions on GAA players. There have, in fact, been several cases of teams pooling together to place bets on themselves winning a particular competition.

While manipulation of games would be difficult, yesterday's story claimed that National League results should be checked in detail as there were examples of counties losing when they were odds-on favourites.

Imposter

Reads to me like it's just sour grapes from the bookies that the public knew more than them!

cruiserweight

Imposter wrote:

Reads to me like it's just sour grapes from the bookies that the public knew more than them!

Yeah funny that bookies don't mind taking money, but when it comes to paying it out!:D

The Rooster

As a regular punter on GAA games, I know to avoid Galway like the plague during the league. You'd imagine they'd have to cop now to quit while they're ahead, because if they get greedy they'll get caught.

The publicity going around, generated by the bookies, is aimed at putting off anyone else who might be thinking of copying them.

<Note, I didnt see the article in the Sunday Tribune, so I'm not saying that particular incident involved Galway, because I dont know>

twenty8

It is no surprise really. These players are getting half nothing to play (sorry .... nothing!). If a chance came along in a relatively unimportant league match to double your monthly income I would probably grab it also.

You can't blame them if it only involves changing the free taker! However if they were deliberately planning to lose the game - well that is a different story.

The Rooster

Re the changing free-taker: I've never come across a bookie (and I've come across most of them) who's offered the novelty type bets (like which individual will score the most for a team in a particular game) for a National League game. Plus I've just heard that it was Kieran Shannon who wrote the initial article. Therefore my conlcusion is he's come across some whispers, added a few myths and a few downright lies, and come up with a nice juicy match-fixing article. A load of balls, which is what Mr Shannon usually comes up with.

sgthighway

A lot of the bookies in North Galway around Tuam were cleaned out when Armagh beat Galway in the Football. That was early in the year.

Culchie

sgthighway wrote:

A lot of the bookies in North Galway around Tuam were cleaned out when Armagh beat Galway in the Football. That was early in the year.

Well they must be pretty thick bookies if they let that result ruin them.

If bookies don't accept the obvious risks in laying these 'specials' and first pointscorers etc then they just shouldn't offer them in the first place.

I f***king hate cry baby bookies, there is nothing worse. They are getting as bad as the banks, no risk on their part.

Waylander

Armagh should have been strong favouties at the start of that game. I cant believe bookies, even in Galway were cleaned out by that result. I do think there is an element of the bookies whinging because league form can be unpredictable and hard to call as alot of counties are experimenting with trheir sides for the championship season ahead.

Blackjack

Armagh were 5/4 outsiders

Very crappy odds for outsiders, TBH. I don't bet much, but 5/4 is not odds that apply to outsiders. Sounds like a whole pile of Sh1te from the bookies and Journo's to be honest. Galway beat Sligo, again, who's surprised?.